Trouble "seems to be mounting" for Force India F1 Owner Vijay Mallya, according to Chauhan & Shetty of the TIMES OF INDIA. State Bank of India -- the largest lender to defunct airline Kingfisher -- declared the carrier, its promoter Mallya and United Breweries Holdings as "wilful defaulters" after its grievance redressal committee rejected the arguments made by the borrower through its legal representative recently. The move comes even as the Enforcement Directorate "is set to launch a money laundering probe against Mallya and Kingfisher Airlines." Sources said that the agency has asked for a copy of the FIR filed by CBI so that a case under the Prevention of Money Laundering Act could be filed against Mallya and the airline on the basis of "prime facie evidence." It "is alleged that a major chunk of loans" to the tune of Rs 4,000 crore ($605M) extended to Kingfisher by nationalized banks, which are now under CBI probe, were "diverted to tax havens such as Cayman Island and Mauritius." Sources said that Mallya's role "is being probed as the head of the company as initial investigations have pointed to possible misuse of bank funds." Officials said that "a loan taken from IDBI Bank was shown to have been used for leasing aircraft from companies based in tax havens and high rent was paid to the companies" (TIMES OF INDIA, 11/21). F1I's Andrew Lewin wrote being declared a "wilful defaulter" by the State Bank of India "could mean that Mallya and his businesses will not be able to secure further bank loans from any financial institution in India." The ruling "does not directly impact the operations of the Force India F1 team, which is joint owned by Mallya and business conglomerate Sahara India Pariwar which is not involved in the airline." Force India is understood to currently be in negotiations with car manufacturer Aston Martin and whisky maker Johnnie Walker that could lead to the team changing its name and brand next season, although Deputy Team Principal Bob Fernley said earlier this month that such speculation was "still a little way off" (F1I, 11/22).
